Safra Working Papers | City Ethics

Local Government Practice February 15, 2011

Public Servants and Free Speech

It is worth noting that the respondent member of the Stamford board of finance in the matter covered in the preceding blog post raised both a legislative immunity and a First Amendment free speech defense in his federal court complaint unsuccessfully seeking an injunction against his ethics proceeding.

Enforcement & Complaints September 25, 2009

Public Servants Should Not Take Action Against Those Who File Non-Frivolous Ethics Complaints Against Them

When a congressman goes after a lawyer whose organization filed an ethics complaint against him (in his capacity as Colorado's secretary of state), you know he is more interested in getting even than he is in the public interest. Getting even, however, is not what public servants should be doing.

Resources & Learning January 14, 2007

Public Virtue: Some Nice Quotes

When the United States was founded, it was not power or wealth or religious diversity that the Founding Fathers felt differentiated Americans from others, allowing them to found a republic, but public virtue. A recent New York Review of Books essay by historian Edmund S. Morgan argued this convincingly.

September 1, 2009

Public Works Misconduct in Tulsa and Montreal

Two former public works employees are in the news this week for misconduct.

Ethics Codes & Reform April 2, 2007

Publicizing Ethics Reform

It is not enough to reform a city's ethics program. One must also let the world know about it. Most municipalities reform their ethics in a vacuum. They might look at a nearby town or city, or two, but the people in charge rarely know what is happening elsewhere, what are the norms and what are the latest reforms.

Local Government Practice January 6, 2011

Putting a Stop to Going Along

It not only takes a number of officials to allow unethical conduct to occur, it also takes a number of officials to undermine the effect of a good ethics program. An ugly example occurred recently in North Providence, Rhode Island, a city where three former council members are awaiting trial for charges of extortion and bribery.

Transparency & Disclosure July 31, 2009

Putting Financial Disclosure Information Online

Thanks to Texas Watchdog, "an independent, nonpartisan entity [that] serves as a government watchdog and training center where reporters, bloggers and activists of any stripe learn how to uncover waste, fraud and corruption in state and local governments," the financial disclosure forms of Houston's council members are now available online.

Conflicts of Interest October 5, 2012

Putting Government Officials and Employees into Conflict Situations

It was very refreshing to hear Ann Arbor council member Steven Kunselman, in an interview with Jeanine DeLay of A2Ethics , an Ann Arbor-based ethics organization, talking openly, honestly, and intelligently about some local government ethics situations.

July 16, 2009

Quebec Report Recommends Ethics Codes for All Local Governments; North Carolina Might Soon Be Requiring Codes, Too

Last week, I wrote about municipal corruption scandals in Montreal. This week, I'm happy to be able to write about a report requested by the province of Quebec, which determined that the province's municipalities should all have a code of ethics (only about 10% do now), that the largest cities and the counties should have ethics commissioners, and that financial disclosure and ethics training should be required. Contractors would be covered under the codes.

Conflicts of Interest September 28, 2012

Questioning the Assumption of An Official's Sole Responsibility for Ethics Violations

It is assumed in government ethics enforcement that an official who mishandles a conflict situation is solely responsible for her misconduct. This assumption is rarely questioned. The official might have received no training, or poor training. The official might not have been encouraged to seek advice; in fact, she might not have had access to professional ethics advice from anyone, or only from a city attorney who was an important player from the other political party.

February 19, 2010

Quote of the Day

(In a debate about a revolving door provision, also known as a "cooling off period")

"You do not take pizza from the oven and put it straight in your mouth. I believe that we should not take our legislative service and put it right in our own mouth."

—Missouri State Senator Jason Crowell (from an article in the Columbia Missourian). Unlike most of my Quotes of the Day, I found this one delightful.

July 1, 2009

Quote of the Day

I don’t care what state you are talking about, you are always going to have one or two people who are going to do the wrong thing. That’s human life. But the bottom line is: I can tell you that my members who are in the House of Representatives are here for the right reason, and I am just a little cautious to make a regulation for one person.

February 22, 2012

Quote of the Day

I did stop and and try to invoke legislative immunity, but the camera would have none of it.

—State senator Steve King of Grand Junction, CO, a career police officer, said jokingly about a red-light-camera ticket he received in Denver. He voted against banning red-light cameras in Colorado's municipalities. From an article in the Denver Post yesterday.

November 17, 2015

Quote of the Day

“If you hold a tiger by the tail, you have a difficult choice to make: Do you let go or not? It’s not a good thing to alienate any legislative leader.”

November 25, 2015

Quote of the Day

"At the end of the day, anybody could fall into a trap like I did."

June 5, 2014

Quote of the Day - Admissions in Settlements

"Trials are primarily about the truth. Consent decrees are primarily about pragmatism."

— Second Circuit Court of Appeals in [Link removed] SEC v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., Nos. 11-5227-cv, 11-5375-cv and 11-5242-cv (2nd Cir., June 4, 2014).

These words from an important court decision yesterday will most likely be quoted in all sorts of contexts, including with respect to ethics settlements, the consent decrees of government ethics.

June 19, 2014

Quote of the Day - Soft Money

Old soft money was associated with access, like a wad of cash that you’d slip to a nightclub bouncer to get in the door. The new soft money is more like a bulge in one’s jacket pocket, an implied threat against those who refuse to comply.

September 4, 2009

Quote of the Day: Everybody Does Not Do It

"I must say regretfully that ...

November 16, 2015

Quotes of the Day

“I think people should know right from wrong, and if folks are going to do something they’re not supposed to, they’re going to do it. If people are calling up commissioners at night on their personal cellphones, I have no idea about it. … If I knew something was going on, I would go directly to (County Attorney) David Escamilla.”
—Travis County, TX (Austin) Purchasing Agent Cyd Grimes. Travis County has no lobbying law.

Ethics Commissions & Administration January 30, 2009

Rationalization and Initiative in the Ethics Sphere

When it really comes down to it (and it usually does), what is the greatest enemy of trust in government, or anywhere else for that matter? Greed, power, ego, loyalty? I'd put my money on (or against) rationalization, the ability of people to justify what they do and fail to do.